Coexisting Electronic Smectic Liquid Crystal and Superconductivity in a Si Square-Net Semimetal
Journal
Physical Review Letters
Journal Volume
136
Journal Issue
7
Start Page
076001
ISSN
0031-9007
1079-7114
Date Issued
2026-02-18
Author(s)
Butler, Christopher J.
Ikenobe, Toshiya
Jiang, Ming-Chun
Hirai, Daigorou
Yamada, Takahiro
Arita, Ryotaro
Hanaguri, Tetsuo
Hiroi, Zenji
Abstract
Electronic nematic and smectic liquid crystals are spontaneous symmetry-breaking phases that are seen to precede or coexist with enigmatic unconventional superconducting states in multiple classes of materials. In this Letter we describe scanning tunneling microscopy observations of a short ranged charge stripe (smectic) order in NaAlSi, whose superconductivity is speculated to have an unconventional origin. As well as this we resolve a clear spatial modulation of the superconducting gap amplitude, which arises due to the intertwined superconducting and smectic orders. Numerical calculations help to understand the possible driving mechanism as a suppression of kinetic energy on the Fermi surface formed in part by two large, flat-topped hole pockets of p-orbital character.
Publisher
American Physical Society (APS)
Type
journal article